Olympus restyles Pen Mini, adds touchscreen and 16mp sensor

Revamping their two smallest Pen cameras just fifteen months after their introduction, Olympus chose to give their least expensive model--the Olympus E-PM2--the combined look of the original E-PL1, with the fixed grip of the original E-P1. It's fun to see their designers playing with the digital Pen heritage already. The end result is better looking to my eye than the originals, and I own and use both. What's better than appearances, though, is the E-PM2's inclusion of the same 16-megapixel sensor as the excellent OM-D E-M5, a sensor whose quality blew us away earlier this year. Neither the E-PM2 nor the E-PL5 introduced at the same time has the 5-way image stabilization of the OM-D, but the E-PM2's standard sensor-shift IS should serve quite well.

Shipping in October, the Olympus E-PM2 should retail for $550 body-only, and $600 with the 14-42mm kit lens. That strikes me as a tiny bargain given the technology now packed into this small body.

If you're looking to step into an Olympus Pen-series camera and want the smallest, most affordable package possible, you'll want to read our hands-on preview of the brand new Olympus Pen E-PM2!

The Olympus PM2 is the smallest and lightest camera body in the mirrorless PEN series.